Recycling Yesterday's Dinner Leftovers

America is known as the land of plenty. Hundreds of thousands of tons of good food are thrown into dumpsters daily. Most Americans scrape their leftovers in the garbage and don't give it a second thought.....that is until recently. The economic downturn has turned even the most wasteful Americans into penny pincher's. People that were eating steak twice a week are now buying ground beef and making hamburger helper. But do you need to give up everything you love?

For years I have been recycling dinners. I can't stand the thought of throwing out good food. What I've been doing for years has now become a necessity for many Americans. Here are a couple of things I do to recycle leftovers. The best part is that the leftovers take on a whole new life and are better the second time around.

When I make spaghetti with meat sauce I always have leftover sauce. Here's the easy recipe for meat sauce:

1 lb ground meat

1 onion (diced)

1 can of mushrooms

2 garlic cloves (chopped)

1 tbls olive oil

1 jar of any commercially made marinara sauce

In a pan sauté the onion and garlic until tender, add meat and brown. Drain fat. Add drained mushrooms and sauce. Cook on low-medium heat for 20-25 minutes. Cook spaghetti and top with meat sauce. There will be sauce left over, which should be refrigerated--don't add any left over spaghetti.

A few days later you can use the left over meat sauce as a topping on homemade pizza. I buy medium or large pitas. Here's the recipe:

Large or medium pitas

Leftover meat sauce

1 small can tomato sauce

1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese

Olive oil

Garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly brush bottom of pitas with olive oil. Place on cookie sheet. Combine meat sauce and tomato sauce and warm in pan. Spoon over pitas. If you want to add additional toppings you can, but they aren't necessary because you already have meat and mushrooms. Top with cheese and a small shake of garlic powder and bake for 10 minutes on middle rack.

I buy beef roasts when they are on sale. I cook them in a crock pot with beef broth, water and diced onion and garlic for 5 hours and then add some carrots and potatoes. There is always meat and broth left over and here's how I recycle it:

Left over beef roast (cut into bite size pieces)

Left over beef broth (with onions)

Left over carrots & potatoes

1 cup dry barley

2 stalks chopped celery

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 medium can tomato sauce

4 cups water

4 beef bouillon cubes

1 can of mushrooms

In a large pot add left over beef broth, beef cubes, celery, drained mushrooms, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, bouillon and rinsed barley. Cook on medium-high heat until barley is done (about 45 minutes - 1 hour). If barley soaks up too much broth, add more water. Add pieces of left over carrots and potato and cook another 10 minutes. This is delicious homemade beef barley soup that's not only tasty but nutritious and full of fiber.

With a little thought and planning you can recycle almost any dinner you make. Left over steak is used to make chili. A roasted chicken becomes chicken soup. Leftover veggies can go into a breakfast omelet. A pork roast gets shredded and becomes barbecue pork sandwiches.

Recycling dinners is a way to stop waste and save money during these tough times. Once you try it, you'll be doing it all the time and thinking up new ways to use leftovers.